ScienceDaily: Top News

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• First high-resolution national carbon map of Panama
• Evolution picks up hitchhikers: Pervasive genetic hitchhiking and clonal interference in evolving yeast populations
• Vaccinating boys plays key role in HPV prevention
• Surgeon recommends off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting be abandoned
• Plain packaging seems to make cigarettes less appealing and increase urgency to quit smoking
• Scientists prove ticks harbor Heartland virus, a recently discovered disease in the United States
• Skipping breakfast may increase coronary heart disease risk
• Scientists identify key brain circuits that control compulsive drinking in rats
• Weight is a factor in graduate school admissions
• Novel 'top-down' mechanism repatterns developing brain regions
• NASA releases images of Earth by two interplanetary spacecraft
• Chemical reaction could streamline manufacture of pharmaceuticals and other compounds
• Breastfed children are less likely to develop ADHD later in life, study suggests
• Ability to learn new words based on efficient communication between brain areas that control movement and hearing
• Bees 'betray' their flowers when pollinator species decline
• Most flammable boreal forests in North America become more so
• Microchips that mimic the brain: Novel microchips imitate the brain's information processing in real time
• Flex plan for physically demanding jobs: Flexibility tests are often as good as strength tests, and not as discriminatory
• New key to 'switching off' hypertension
• Climate forecasts shown to warn of crop failures
• Off-grid sterilization with 'solar steam'
• Geochemical 'fingerprints' leave evidence that megafloods eroded steep gorge
• Greening of the Earth pushed way back in time
• Rare immune cells promote food-induced allergic inflammation in the esophagus
• Sea level rise: New iceberg theory points to areas at risk of rapid disintegration
• Teen eating disorders increase suicide risk
• How to survive without sex: Rotifer genome reveals its strategies
• 'Love hormone' is two-faced: Oxytocin strengthens bad memories and can increase fear and anxiety
• Declining sea ice strands baby harp seals
• New hope for hormone resistant breast cancer
• Sub-saharan water: Not just fossil water
• Climate threatens food security of Pacific islands
• Could HYCCUPS boost phone battery life?
• Protein complex linked to cancer growth may also help fight tumors
• Two-in-one solution for low cost polymer LEDs and solar cells
• A new method for clicking molecules together
• Study lays groundwork for norovirus anti-viral treatments
• Could turning on a gene prevent diabetes?
• Scientific experiment creates a wave frozen in time
• Move like an octopus: Underwater propulsion from a 3-D printer
• Bringing color to solar panels
• From obscurity to dominance: Tracking the rapid evolutionary rise of ray-finned fish
• Thin, flexible glass for energy storage
• Loss of African woodland may impact on climate, study shows
• Mental illness linked to early death in people with epilepsy
• To savor the flavor, perform a short ritual first
• Too many antioxidants? Resveratrol blocks many cardiovascular benefits of exercise
• Health risks from arsenic in rice exposed
• Magnets make droplets dance: Reversible switching between static and dynamic self-assembly
• When cells are consumed by wanderlust

First high-resolution national carbon map of Panama Posted: 22 Jul 2013 05:30 PM PDT Researchers have for the first time mapped the above ground carbon density of an entire country in high fidelity. They integrated field data with satellite imagery and high-resolution airborne Light Detection and Ranging data to map the vegetation and to quantify carbon stocks throughout the Republic of Panama.

Evolution picks up hitchhikers: Pervasive genetic hitchhiking and clonal interference in evolving yeast populations Posted: 22 Jul 2013 05:30 PM PDT In a twist on "survival of the fittest," researchers have discovered that evolution is driven not by a single beneficial mutation but rather by a group of mutations, including ones called "genetic hitchhikers" that are simply along for the ride. These hitchhikers are mutations that do not appear to have a role in contributing to an organism's fitness and therefore its evolution, yet may play an important role down the road.

Vaccinating boys plays key role in HPV prevention Posted: 22 Jul 2013 05:30 PM PDT Improving vaccination rates against the human papillomavirus (HPV) in boys is key to protecting both men and women, says new research. HPV has been linked to anal, penile and certain types of throat cancers in men. Since the virus is also responsible for various cancers in women, vaccinating boys aged 11 to 21 will play a crucial role in reducing cancer rates across the sexes.

Surgeon recommends off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting be abandoned Posted: 22 Jul 2013 05:29 PM PDT Cardiothoracic surgeons have found that off-pump coronary artery bypass graft surgery has failed to show any significant improvement in short-term morbidity or mortality as compared to the traditional on-pump coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Plain packaging seems to make cigarettes less appealing and increase urgency to quit smoking Posted: 22 Jul 2013 05:29 PM PDT Plain packaging for cigarettes seems to make tobacco less appealing and increase the urgency to quit smoking, suggest early findings.

Scientists prove ticks harbor Heartland virus, a recently discovered disease in the United States Posted: 22 Jul 2013 05:29 PM PDT Scientists have for the first time traced a novel virus that infected two men from northwestern Missouri in 2009 to populations of ticks in the region, providing confirmation that lone star ticks are carrying the recently discovered virus and humans in the area are likely at risk of infection. There is no treatment available for HRTV. Unlike other tick-borne diseases like Lyme, ehrlichiosis and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, HRTV is a virus and thus does not respond to antibiotics.

Skipping breakfast may increase coronary heart disease risk Posted: 22 Jul 2013 05:28 PM PDT A large 16-year study finds men who reported that they skipped breakfast had higher risk of heart attack or death from coronary heart disease. The timing of meals, whether it's missing a meal in the morning or eating a meal very late at night, may cause adverse metabolic effects that lead to coronary heart disease. Even after accounting for modest differences in diet, physical activity, smoking and other lifestyle factors, the association between skipping breakfast (or eating very late at night) and coronary heart disease persisted.

Scientists identify key brain circuits that control compulsive drinking in rats Posted: 22 Jul 2013 05:26 PM PDT Scientists have identified circuitry in the brain that drives compulsive drinking in rats, and likely plays a similar role in humans.

Weight is a factor in graduate school admissions Posted: 22 Jul 2013 05:26 PM PDT Want to go to graduate school? Your weight could determine whether or not you receive an offer of admission.

Novel 'top-down' mechanism repatterns developing brain regions Posted: 22 Jul 2013 05:26 PM PDT Dennis O'Leary was the first scientist to show that the basic functional architecture of the cortex, the largest part of the human brain, was genetically determined during development. But as it so often does in science, answering one question opened up many others. O'Leary wondered what if the layout of the cortex wasn't fixed? What would happen if it were changed?

NASA releases images of Earth by two interplanetary spacecraft Posted: 22 Jul 2013 02:28 PM PDT Color and black-and-white images of Earth taken by two NASA interplanetary spacecraft on July 19 show our planet and its moon as bright beacons from millions of miles away in space. NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured the color images of Earth and the moon from its perch in the Saturn system nearly 900 million miles (1.5 billion kilometers) away. MESSENGER, the first probe to orbit Mercury, took a black-and-white image from a distance of 61 million miles (98 million kilometers) as part of a campaign to search for natural satellites of the planet.

Chemical reaction could streamline manufacture of pharmaceuticals and other compounds Posted: 22 Jul 2013 12:27 PM PDT Researchers have discovered a new chemical reaction that has the potential to lower the cost and streamline the manufacture of compounds ranging from agricultural chemicals to pharmaceutical drugs. The reaction resolves a long-standing challenge in organic chemistry in creating phenolic compounds from aromatic hydrocarbons quickly and cheaply.

Breastfed children are less likely to develop ADHD later in life, study suggests Posted: 22 Jul 2013 12:27 PM PDT Scientists have completed a study that finds a clear link between rates of breastfeeding and the likelihood of developing Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, even when typical risk factors were taken into consideration.

Ability to learn new words based on efficient communication between brain areas that control movement and hearing Posted: 22 Jul 2013 12:27 PM PDT For the first time scientists have identified how a pathway in the brain which is unique to humans allows us to learn new words.

Bees 'betray' their flowers when pollinator species decline Posted: 22 Jul 2013 12:27 PM PDT Remove even one bumblebee species from an ecosystem and the impact is swift and clear: their floral "sweethearts" produce significantly fewer seeds. The results show how reduced competition among pollinators disrupts floral fidelity, or specialization, among the remaining bees in the system, leading to less successful plant reproduction. The alarming trend suggests that global declines in pollinators could have a bigger impact on flowering plants and food crops than was previously realized.

Most flammable boreal forests in North America become more so Posted: 22 Jul 2013 12:27 PM PDT A 2,000-square-kilometer zone in the Yukon Flats of interior Alaska -- one of the most flammable high-latitude regions of the world, according to scientists -- has seen a dramatic increase in both the frequency and severity of fires in recent decades. Wildfire activity in this area is higher than at any other time in the past 10,000 years, the researchers report.

Microchips that mimic the brain: Novel microchips imitate the brain's information processing in real time Posted: 22 Jul 2013 12:27 PM PDT Neuroinformatics researchers have demonstrated how complex cognitive abilities can be incorporated into electronic systems made with so-called neuromorphic chips: They show how to assemble and configure these electronic systems to function in a way similar to an actual brain.

Flex plan for physically demanding jobs: Flexibility tests are often as good as strength tests, and not as discriminatory Posted: 22 Jul 2013 12:26 PM PDT Fitness tests that focus on sheer strength may not be the most accurate way to qualify applicants for physically demanding jobs and may also increase the likelihood of a gender discrimination lawsuit from female applicants.

New key to 'switching off' hypertension Posted: 22 Jul 2013 12:26 PM PDT Researchers have designed new compounds that mimic those naturally used by the body to regulate blood pressure. The most promising of them may literally be the key to controlling hypertension, switching off the signaling pathways that lead to the deadly condition.

Climate forecasts shown to warn of crop failures Posted: 22 Jul 2013 12:12 PM PDT Climate data can help predict some crop failures several months before harvest, according to a new study from an international team. Scientists found that in about one-third of global cropland, temperature and soil moisture have strong relationships to the yield of wheat and rice at harvest. For those two key crops, a computer model could predict crop failures three months in advance for about 20 percent of global cropland, according to the study

Off-grid sterilization with 'solar steam' Posted: 22 Jul 2013 11:15 AM PDT Nanotechnology researchers have unveiled a solar-powered sterilization system that could be a boon for more than 2.5 billion people who lack adequate sanitation. The "solar steam" sterilization system uses nanomaterials to convert as much as 80 percent of the energy in sunlight into germ-killing heat.

Geochemical 'fingerprints' leave evidence that megafloods eroded steep gorge Posted: 22 Jul 2013 11:15 AM PDT For the first time, scientists have direct geochemical evidence that the 150-mile long Tsangpo Gorge, possibly the world's deepest, was the conduit by which megafloods from glacial lakes, perhaps half the volume of Lake Erie, drained catastrophically through the Himalayas when their ice dams failed during the last 2 million years.

Greening of the Earth pushed way back in time Posted: 22 Jul 2013 11:15 AM PDT Conventional scientific wisdom has it that plants and other creatures have only lived on land for about 500 million years, but a new study is pointing to evidence for life on land that is four times as old -- at 2.2 billion years ago and almost half way back to the inception of the planet.

Rare immune cells promote food-induced allergic inflammation in the esophagus Posted: 22 Jul 2013 11:14 AM PDT A rare immune cell and specific molecular reactions to allergenic foods team up – in a bad way – to cause a food allergy-associated disorder, which points to new ways to possibly treat inflammation associated with eosinophilic esophagitis.

Sea level rise: New iceberg theory points to areas at risk of rapid disintegration Posted: 22 Jul 2013 11:14 AM PDT In events that could exacerbate sea level rise over the coming decades, stretches of ice on the coasts of Antarctica and Greenland are at risk of rapidly cracking apart and falling into the ocean, according to new iceberg calving simulations.

Teen eating disorders increase suicide risk Posted: 22 Jul 2013 09:32 AM PDT Is binge eating a tell-tale sign of suicidal thoughts? According to a new study of African American girls, those who experience depressive and anxious symptoms are often dissatisfied with their bodies and more likely to display binge eating behaviors. These behaviors put them at higher risk for turning their emotions inward, in other words, displaying internalizing symptoms such as suicide.

How to survive without sex: Rotifer genome reveals its strategies Posted: 22 Jul 2013 09:32 AM PDT How a group of animals can abandon sex, yet produce more than 460 species over evolutionary time, became a little less mysterious this week with the publication of the complete genome of a bdelloid rotifer (Adineta vaga).

'Love hormone' is two-faced: Oxytocin strengthens bad memories and can increase fear and anxiety Posted: 22 Jul 2013 09:32 AM PDT Oxytocin is known as the hormone that promotes feelings of love, bonding and well-being. It's even being tested as an anti-anxiety drug. But new research shows oxytocin also can cause emotional pain. Oxytocin appears to be the reason stressful social situations, perhaps being bullied at school or tormented by a boss, reverberate long past the event and can trigger fear and anxiety in the future. That's because the hormone actually strengthens social memory in the brain.

Declining sea ice strands baby harp seals Posted: 22 Jul 2013 09:31 AM PDT Young harp seals off the eastern coast of Canada are at much higher risk of getting stranded than adult seals because of shrinking sea ice cover caused by recent warming in the North Atlantic, according to a Duke University study.

New hope for hormone resistant breast cancer Posted: 22 Jul 2013 09:31 AM PDT A new finding provides fresh hope for the millions of women worldwide with estrogen receptor positive breast cancer. Scientists have shown that a specific change, which occurs when tumors become resistant to anti-estrogen therapy, might make the cancers susceptible to treatment with chemotherapy drugs.

Sub-saharan water: Not just fossil water Posted: 22 Jul 2013 09:30 AM PDT The Sahara conceals large quantities of water stored at depth and inherited from ancient times. A recent study has just shown that this groundwater is not entirely fossil, but resupplied every year. Using a method based on data obtained by satellite, scientists estimated the variations in the volume of water lying under the northern Sahara desert: the current rate of recharge is on average 1.4 km3 per year, for the period 2003-2010. This represents 40% of withdrawals, mainly for irrigation to support the oasis economy. The inputs therefore do not compensate for the withdrawals, but their existence means that these transboundary aquifers, the main water resource of semi-arid regions in Algeria and Tunisia, could be managed sustainably.

Climate threatens food security of Pacific islands Posted: 22 Jul 2013 09:30 AM PDT Isolated in the middle of the ocean, Pacific islands rely closely on fishing for their economy and food security. But global warming could considerably reduce their accessible fish resources over the coming decades.

Could HYCCUPS boost phone battery life? Posted: 22 Jul 2013 09:30 AM PDT A new system that goes by the name of "hybrid contextual cloud in ubiquitous platforms comprising of smart phones" or HYCCUPS for short, has been developed by computer scientists. The system boosts phone battery life by booting power-consuming computational tasks on to an on-the-fly ad-hoc cloud in which smart phones are both clients and computing resources.

Protein complex linked to cancer growth may also help fight tumors Posted: 22 Jul 2013 09:29 AM PDT Researchers have discovered a gene expression signature that may lead to new immune therapies for lung cancer patients. They found that NF-κB, a protein complex known to promote tumor growth, may also have the ability to boost the immune system to eliminate cancerous cells before they harm, as well as promote antitumor responses.

Two-in-one solution for low cost polymer LEDs and solar cells Posted: 22 Jul 2013 08:14 AM PDT Scientists have just made a considerable improvement in device performance of polymer-based optoelectronic devices. The new plasmonic material, can be applied to both polymer light-emitting diodes and polymer solar cells, with world-record high performance, through a simple and cheap process.

A new method for clicking molecules together Posted: 22 Jul 2013 08:14 AM PDT Scientists have developed a quick and simple method for connecting and assembling new molecules together, paving a new road for synthetic chemistry, material science, chemical biology, and even drug discovery.

Study lays groundwork for norovirus anti-viral treatments Posted: 22 Jul 2013 08:14 AM PDT There's no vaccine to prevent norovirus, or drugs to treat the pesky virus that sickens millions each year and is known to complicate cruise ship vacations. But a first ever small animal model provides a new tool to develop anti-viral treatments.

Could turning on a gene prevent diabetes? Posted: 22 Jul 2013 07:56 AM PDT The resistance to insulin seen in type 2 diabetics is caused partly by the lack of a protein that has not previously been associated with diabetes. This breakthrough could potentially help to prevent diabetes.

Scientific experiment creates a wave frozen in time Posted: 22 Jul 2013 07:56 AM PDT Scientists have created, in a laboratory, a static pipeline wave, with a crest that moves neither forward nor backward. This research will allow improvement in boat and seaport designs and will enable analysis of how carbon dioxide exchange between the ocean and the atmosphere occurs.

Move like an octopus: Underwater propulsion from a 3-D printer Posted: 22 Jul 2013 07:55 AM PDT Octopods, which are also known as octopuses or squid, generally move along the ocean floor with their eight arms, they flee by swimming head-first, in line with the principles of propulsion. When the mollusk does this, water is taken into its mantle, which is then closed by contracting sphincter muscles. The water is then squirted back out at a high pressure through a funnel. The resulting propulsion pushes the octopus forward in the opposite direction. By changing the position of the funnel, the octopus can precisely steer its direction of travel. For researchers this intelligent propulsion principle served as a role model for the development of an underwater propulsion system.

Bringing color to solar panels Posted: 22 Jul 2013 07:55 AM PDT Covering a roof or a façade with standard solar cells to generate electricity will change a building's original appearance – and not always for the better. At present only dark solar panels are widely available on the market.

From obscurity to dominance: Tracking the rapid evolutionary rise of ray-finned fish Posted: 22 Jul 2013 07:35 AM PDT Mass extinctions, like lotteries, result in a multitude of losers and a few lucky winners. This is the story of one of the winners, a small, shell-crushing predatory fish called Fouldenia, which first appears in the fossil record a mere 11 million years after an extinction that wiped out more than 90 percent of the planet's vertebrate species.

Thin, flexible glass for energy storage Posted: 22 Jul 2013 07:35 AM PDT A new use for glass could make future hybrid-electric and plug-in electric vehicles more affordable and reliable.

Loss of African woodland may impact on climate, study shows Posted: 22 Jul 2013 04:20 AM PDT A more strategic approach to managing trees across Africa could have a positive impact on the changing climate, researchers say.

Mental illness linked to early death in people with epilepsy Posted: 22 Jul 2013 04:20 AM PDT People with epilepsy are 10 times more likely to die early, before their mid-fifties, compared with the general population, according to a 41 year study.

To savor the flavor, perform a short ritual first Posted: 22 Jul 2013 04:20 AM PDT Blowing out the candles on birthday cake isn't just for fun. New research reveals that the rituals we perform before eating can actually change our perception of the food.

Too many antioxidants? Resveratrol blocks many cardiovascular benefits of exercise Posted: 22 Jul 2013 04:19 AM PDT In older men, a natural antioxidant compound found in red grapes and other plants – called resveratrol – blocks many of the cardiovascular benefits of exercise, according to new research.

Health risks from arsenic in rice exposed Posted: 22 Jul 2013 04:19 AM PDT High levels of arsenic in rice have been shown to be associated with elevated genetic damage in humans, a new study has found.

Magnets make droplets dance: Reversible switching between static and dynamic self-assembly Posted: 22 Jul 2013 04:19 AM PDT Researchers have placed water droplets containing magnetic nanoparticles on strong water repellent surfaces and have made them align in various static and dynamic structures using periodically oscillating magnetic fields. This is the first time researchers have demonstrated reversible switching between static and dynamic self-assembly.

When cells are consumed by wanderlust Posted: 22 Jul 2013 04:19 AM PDT Whether in fish embryos or human tumors, the same gene controls how cells migrate in cell tissue. In experiments on zebrafish, researchers have demonstrated that the same proteins that lead to the formation of metastases in humans also cause the cells to migrate during embryonic development.

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